I grew up near La Grange and went to college with a girl from there. I jokingly said something derogatory about the Chicken Ranch and without missing a beat she deadpanned, “I was born on the Chicken Ranch”. I had the biggest crush on her so I felt kinda bad for my joke. She had me going for a couple of minutes before letting me know she was just pulling my leg. Great episode, Professor! Well done.
Ooh my kinda girl! She can take a joke in good fun and serve it back to you just as quick! (Would you mind an example from my family? When my grandma was 38, Grandpa was drunk and said he was going to trade her in for a pair of 19 year-olds. She said, "You could never make the payments," then took a sip of her own drink. Yeah! I loved them both so much, and they lived in love until death they did part, many years ago.)
My dad serviced the jukebox at the Chicken Ranch. I would sometimes go with him on his routes and play shuffleboard and pinball while he was taking care of business. However, when he went to the Ranch, I had to wait in the truck.
I saw ZZ Top live in Lincoln Nebraska in the early 80’s. When they started playing Cheap Sunglasses people started hurling kids sunglasses at the stage. One pair bounced off the top of Dusty Hill’s cowboy hat. He looked up, looked around and kept on playing. Never missed a beat. Classic!
I'm so glad I was able to see ZZ Top a couple of time in the 70s. I bought tickets for a third but the show was canceled because Dusty was sick. Rest in Peace Dusty Hill. 🙏
Me too! It was just that mumbling ZZ-Top song that needed no words. The way Billy used his voice and the way they all voiced their instruments said everything about who they were. I never looked up the lyrics because I loved the song not knowing them.
I actually live in La Grange, TX. ZZ Top played the Fayette County Fair a few years ago, first time they'd ever played La Grange in La Grange. There were more people there at the concert than the entire population of the county. lol My all time favorite band, seen them live more than any other band.
La Grange is high on my list of favorite Texas cities. Great town square (I love the kitchenware shop!), beautiful area of Texas, with a lot to do there and in surrounding area. ✌🏻
Are they actually liked in La Grange? It seems to me they led to the demise of their greatest cultural attraction. When you got a good thing going but it's illegal, the last thing you need is someone shouting it to the world and calling attention to it. Maybe enough time has passed, a generation or two has come and gone.
That’s because listeners could call in and request songs to be played.. in our area in Georgia and North Florida, some songs got requested, AND PLAYED back to back. I really miss that mindset of connection with the listeners.
@@missflowerpower8724 Yes, that makes sense. And I agree, it was fun to interact with the DJs back then. One saved my relationship by playing a special dedication song.
Marvin Zinder is still known for his famous Friday restaurant report and the phrase “slime in the ice machine!” In my family he’s also known for retrieving my husband’s uncle from another state back to Texas when he worked for the Harris county sheriff’s department, lol. Love hearing about our “local” band, we saw them on the Eliminator tour here in Houston. What an awesome show! Thanks Professor, for a great visit to Texas!
Sounds very much like "Shake Your Hips" by Slim Harpo, covered by The Stones as "Hip Shake" on Exile on Main Street. Great riff, and much better than ZZ's MTV-era '80s stuff.
This has got to be one of my favorite songs from ZZ Top’s. I never realized how much of their music I really loved until I was older. Thanks for teaching us more about them.
@@ProfessorofRock of course! This is my favorite channel. I watch your videos every day during my lunch. It’s a nice break from the teenagers I teach. 😊
Here's a great song of their's you may have never heard. It's off of their 1st album(appropriately titled "ZZ Top's First Album"). It has a reggae/blues feel. Despite being a 53 year old record, it has one of the best sounding recordings of a drum set's floor toms and mounted toms that I've heard. It recently showed up in my TH-cam feed, otherwise I may have never heard it: th-cam.com/video/gf2kVTUY1-Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=38b3r79i6Y4V89aO
This little place was beloved by many. It is true that this reporter drew the ire of many in the Lone Star State. Thank you for the love to the small towns of Central Texas. I've didn't know this song was recorded in one of my favorite cities Tyler Texas, I've driven past the studio all the time and its still active today. Thank you form Round Rock Texas.
@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Fredericksburg for the hill country and for the Piney Woods Canton First Market Days or Bastrop. For a beach vacation Galveston and Corpus Cristi are great choices.
I was 11 years when I first heard zztop in 1981 I have a fond memory of my bother driving a 72 nova I was sitting in the middle back seat and could see the speedometer with the needle past 120 mph with this song blasting and the sound of the tires rubbing the quarter panel the roads he in north Georgia are not straight it’s amazing how fast you can go with confidence of youth and empty roads both of which are well in the past the America I grew up in seems to be in the past also good days back then
An absolutely awesome track! Off my second favourite Top album (nothing beats Deguello!) So solid. And I was already a firm John Lee Hooker fan when I first heard the Texas trio, so appreciated the homage.
I have a lot of memories of this song and of the Chicken Ranch. In 1970 four of us from UT decided one night to drive to LaGrange and perform our rite of passage, but ended up not going due to general lack of funds! And I'll never forget seeing Gov. Briscoe at his media event when he announced the raid and closure. He reminded me of a kid who was just told his favorite ride at Disney Land was being torn down!
ZZ Top was the greatest boogie rock trio from Texas and they still are today with all of their awesome songs especially with LaGrange one favorites from the early days of ZZ Top. 🇺🇲🎸🥁🎸🇺🇲🎵🎶🎼🎼🎶🎵
This album (and all of ZZ's albums released after) was huge in the late 70's when I was in high school . In fact, I didn't realize until many years later that so many of what we listened to on FM radio during the late 70's where I live came out in the late 60's and early 70's. Everywhere you went great, iconic rock such as this blasted from cars. Very fortunate to have grown up in that era.
True story...as a kid in west Texas, a right of passage as a teenager was a trip to Acuña...the Mexican border town across from Del Rio, Texas....and visiting “boys town”....on one of my trips I was in the backseat of an old Chrysler handing out the beer, circa 1979. In 1982 I heard the song Mexican Blackbird for the first time and I couldn’t believe my ears and had to play it multiple times in disbelief...... I lived the song not knowing about the song.... ZZ Top was already my favorite band, but that sealed the deal!!!
The album, or shall I say the cassette of Tres Hombres has a special place in my memories. The shop I was working at in 1989 used to take camping trips at least one weekend every month. We would leave Friday night after work and head out somewhere here in the Mojave Desert and hang out until Sunday morning. We had one spot in the hills that gave us a nice view of our little community below. It was a lot of fun. One Friday evening we ventured out there and our manager decided to head into town for his 20 year reunion of Mojave High’s class of 1969. Apparently he had too much to drink that night because he never came back! So there we were. In the Mojave Desert with no ride back into town. But we had a lot of beer, some green leafy stuff, a cassette player and a copy of Tres Hombres. We listened to that tape over and over and over until the batteries died. This was long before cell phones so there was no way to call anyone. But, Ron eventually sobered up at some point and returned the following night to rescue us. It just occurred to me that of the 5 of us that used to make that regular journey, I am the only one still living 😢. Crazy how time flies
Yeah I saw them in 1973.. the Tres Hombres tour… the very first rock concert I ever went to. They opened for the Doobie Bros. Special guest if I remember was Savoy Brown (?). Although ZZ Top had previous albums, this was the first track that got any air play, and honestly they blew the other bands away. Was anyone else there? Swing Auditorium at the Orange Show fairgrounds in San Bernardino, California….?
I was in the Army, at Ft Monmouth NJ in 1973, when LaGrange was burning up the airwaves. Having heard the song, and mesmerized with the solid blues beat, and Billy's guitar solo, when ZZ Top showed up on the bill for the Asbury Park Casino, NOT a gambling establishment, but a concert venue, I bought tickets, but wouldn't you know, I caught duty on the night of the concert, and couldn't trade out my duty, nor even sell my tickets. Unfortunately, that was as close as I ever got to seeing ZZ top in concert. Coolest song of the 70's? I would give that to Golden Earring's "Radar Love", a song that holds a special place in my heart..
You wouldn’t recognize Ft. Monmouth now. It was closed a few years back and became overgrown and was falling apart. Netflix has just bought all the property and is turning it into a movie studio. I’m not looking forward to the increased traffic but it’s better than watching it crumble away.
ZZTop is one of a kind. I can still remember when I first heard them. 1987, I was hooked. I had to find everything I could get my hands on. I would go through the hell that my parents gave me all over again. Rock gave me a place I belonged. ZZTop was right there guiding me to finally being happy.
Loved those books as a young lad. Our elementary school had all of them except one. And we always checked every week to see if the library had ordered it. Alas, it never appeared.
That album was one of my first dozen albums. Still have it and it is great shape. Also have some great concert photos of ZZ Top - had to sneak a huge SLR and 80-400 lens into show (I have my ways).
We where allowed to carry a SLR into that Led Zeppelin concert, back in 1980. 35-205 lens, if I recall it right. Ektachrome 400, later pushed to 1600ASA. In later years, you where not allowed a compact camera, nowadays, folks are filming with their cellphones. Crazy.
👍 Time keeps on ticking... Going through a box of old ticket stubs not long ago. My first rock concert: May 19, 1973 East Tennessee State University (lol yeah, I'm old, but still above the dirt...) Rory Gallagher - ZZ Top 4 dollars It was about two months before Tres Hombres came out. (Dusty Hill's 24th birthday, I came to find out on his passing) It was Festival Seating and I managed to get about 15 feet from mic center. Rory Gallagher was pure fire right out of the gate, and his band was phenomenal. (particularly Lou Martin on his electric piano) Rory was amazing to see play and I think that he had as much fun as anyone. Then, Billy Gibbons and the boys came out. Back when they were the most badass blues rock band that ever was. Straw hats, jeans, no beards (but Frank. lol), and BG in a white tshirt w/ pack of Marlboros rolled up in the sleeve(lol). Needless to say, Rory and Billy made a big impression on a 16 yr old. Blues rock, slide guitar nut ever since. RIP Rory, Rod, Lou, & Dusty. Thank You! Keep Rockin' Billy, Frank, & Gerry
Early ZZ is classic bluesy rock of the 1970s, their second entry Rio Grande Mud is a personal favourite of mine of the ZZ catalogue with the unforgettable stage favourite tune "Just Got Paid"
I saw ZZ Top live in Lincoln, Nebraska in the early 80’s. When they started playing Cheap Sunglasses people started hurling pairs of kids sunglasses at the stage. A pair bounced off the top of Dusty Hill’s cowboy hat. He looked up, looked around then kept playing. Never missed a beat. Classic!
I first learned of ZZ Top as a kid, when Tush broke out on the radio. I couldn’t get enough of that song, staring down at the 45 as it spun on my parents’ record player(I want to say I remember the label swirling in blue, yellow and white). I didn’t really become aware of La Grange until much later. Musta been too young when it came out. I was also pretty hyper focused on Elton John. Thanks so much for enriching our lives with all the fascinating stories you tell, professor.
One of the most criminally underrated rock drummers in history, largely because Billy Gibbons was using drum machines in the 80's to record their albums as their sound change. But his drumming on those 70's albums is soooo good.
In the 80's I worked with Bill Narum, the art director for ZZ TOP. The gatefold picture in Tres Hombres- suitable for separating stems and seeds, is from a meal at Leo's Mexican Restaurant in Houston. Aside from the great food, Leo could tell tales of his days riding with Pancho Villa. Narum is the man who thought putting a longhorn steer and ranch set on stage would differentiate ZZT from all the other American rockers touring Europe. I was hanging with Narum and Billy one afternoon when they were designing ZZ branded chrome engine parts, and they suddenly needed to drive from Austin to Houston and back for tacos and sundries. If I did not have a list of things needing doing, I could have been in the back seat, breaking the speed limit and passing through La Grange twice in one day with the man.
I can't hear this song without thinking of the Robot Chicken episode where Billy Gibson getting out of bed and stubbing his toe and saying ah ow ow ow. Great episode professor many things i didn't know in this one!
About a cat house? No way. ZZ Top never had dirty songs. Wait...Tube Steak Boogie, I Got the Six, Velcro Fly, Woke Up with Wood, Fuzzbox Voodoo, Pearl Necklace. lol.
Grew up in Allentown, PA, Billy Joel's song was pretty cool! ZZ TOP is my husband's favorite band, and "LA Grange" is the ringtone when he calls me! We've seen them four times, and will be seeing them this August at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA!
I first saw ZZ Top in 1980 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. It was on the Deguello tour. I was hooked for life. Just saw them last week at the Stranahan theater in Toledo. For some reason, they haven't played Cheap Sunglasses for many years. But anyway, they still rock!🎸🎸🎶🎼🎵
ZZ Top is one of those bands that you love or you're wrong. Ultimate party music. If you're having a party and you want to get everyone singing and playing air guitar, play this song. I always expected it was about a real place, just never knew the story about it. Reminds me of the stories my mom would tell of a cat house that was across the street from my childhood home. Then I recall the cat house that was up on a hill right on the main drag of town. It's long gone but I remember talking to the women there. They always told me when I hit 18 to come see them. When I reached 18, the house was long gone and now a car lot. Thanks for the memories Adam. That's one big reason I love your channel. Keep up the great work.
I never knew the lyrics of the song and had no idea what it was about. The guitar riff, the beat, and the sound of his voice were all I paid attention to.
My wife and I are from La Grange. I grew up working in the family music/TV store on the square directly across from Sherrif Jim's office from 1972-1979!
Hey Adam my fellow Idahoan - born Cottonwood here 😊(although I could be your dad - agewise) took a bit of time but now a subscriber - love your channel
"be very, very careful, when people seem so nice": pls listen to the song "Hope Road" from Anne Clark. I do in fact doubt the fact that Mr. Zindler is truly a nice person. He may seem nice...but:
I saw ZZ top at the Monsters of Rock, Cotton Bowl in the early 1990s. One of my favorite shows ever. La Grange sent the crowd wild. A-haw, haw, haw, haw
Marvin Zindler-the reporter who close the ranch down-ended up becoming a Texas legend himself. He was one of those consumer reporters who people could write to for help. You DID NOT want Marvin Zindler showing up at your business
His restaurant reviews were the best. I remember waiting up late once a week to watch with my family. They got a little silly at the end with the “slime in the ice machine” jingle, but it was iconic.
Here's a fun fact: Even though "La Grange" peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song did make an appearance on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 countdown for the week ending 06/29/74, reportedly at position #33. For that week's countdown, the AT40 staff recorded that show earlier than normal (probably because Casey was going on a lengthy assignment and didn't want to have two weeks of substitutes); and as such, they wouldn't have the actual chart at that time. For that week only, they based their countdown on their best guesstimate of each song's chart position. "La Grange" was actually at its peak position on #41 that week.
Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher", ZZ Top's "The Grange", John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillin", Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips", all seem to have the same chord structure/progression.
Man, I saw them on this tour! What a band. Of course the "Tejas" tour was cooler, rattle snakes,long horned steers,buzzards on a stage shaped like Texas! Great live band.
There's an old Rolling Stones song called Shake Your Hips that sounds very similar to LaGrange. It was released a year before LaGrange came out. The similarities are striking!
@@ProfessorofRock I have quite a bit of music knowledge, but you blow me away with the amount of facts that you share on your show! The research you do and the terminology you use to educate us never ceases to amaze me! You have a great way with words and storytelling! You bring great honor to Kasey Kasem and your dad!
❤🎉 ZZ! Love early ZZ Top. La Grange is a great tune! The boogie masters from Texas! In 1983, a buddy and me went as ZZ Top for a Halloween party. Used 20 bags a cotton batting for the beards and guitars. Good times. Thanks Professor! Great Shirt!
Great song and Great band ! Billy is ONE of the GREATEST guitar players and overall artist in music.The first 5 or 6 LP's are must haves. I really liked the first few but Fandango really sealed the deal. Hearing live ZZ Top was a revelation for my ears.As to LaGrange, Funny how old "criminals" were better citizens than most currently known personalities.
I was a freshman in high school and my brother was a senior. I remember me hearing this song on the radio for the very first time, during a morning ride to school. My brother slid to a stop in front of the school, but the song wasn't finished. He cranked up the volume as we both sat in the car and waited until it was over to go into school. (My brother played guitar and me drums, we could not walk away from this song.) We both ended up late for home room and were sent to the office to get a note from the nun who was the principal before we could return to class. She asked why we were late, I told the truth. I explained that we just heard a new song for the first time and had to listen to it all the way through. My brother broke up laughing, "The truth? What a novel idea?!" Over fifty years have passed, and yet I can still remember every detail.
Poll: What is your pick for the COOLEST ROCK SONG of the 70s?
Close to the Edge Yes
LA Woman
Italian Restaurant, Billy Joel
"One Nation Under A Groove" Funkadelic
@@Sweet--Richard.4981 My favorite song on my favorite album!
I grew up near La Grange and went to college with a girl from there. I jokingly said something derogatory about the Chicken Ranch and without missing a beat she deadpanned, “I was born on the Chicken Ranch”. I had the biggest crush on her so I felt kinda bad for my joke. She had me going for a couple of minutes before letting me know she was just pulling my leg. Great episode, Professor! Well done.
Ooh my kinda girl! She can take a joke in good fun and serve it back to you just as quick!
(Would you mind an example from my family? When my grandma was 38, Grandpa was drunk and said he was going to trade her in for a pair of 19 year-olds. She said, "You could never make the payments," then took a sip of her own drink. Yeah! I loved them both so much, and they lived in love until death they did part, many years ago.)
Ha. That’s good. Gotta love women that can hold their own.
Nationwide is one of my favorite ZZ Top songs
Have mercy. I've been waiting for the bus all day!
I’ve lost track of how many thousand times I’ve heard this song and still turn it up.
My dad serviced the jukebox at the Chicken Ranch. I would sometimes go with him on his routes and play shuffleboard and pinball while he was taking care of business. However, when he went to the Ranch, I had to wait in the truck.
No way! That's awesome Marcus!
Serious? ha!
@@Code.Name.V maybe more awesome had my dad allowed me to go inside. 😂
I never realized what this song was about. I just knew that it was a great song to blast while cruising the strip.
That is so cool!
I saw ZZ Top live in Lincoln Nebraska in the early 80’s. When they started playing Cheap Sunglasses people started hurling kids sunglasses at the stage. One pair bounced off the top of Dusty Hill’s cowboy hat. He looked up, looked around and kept on playing. Never missed a beat. Classic!
Thanks!
Please don't throw things at the artists, y'all.
This why Steve Miller stopped playing Living in the USA. People were throwing cheeseburgers at him and the band whenever theyd play it.
I'm so glad I was able to see ZZ Top a couple of time in the 70s. I bought tickets for a third but the show was canceled because Dusty was sick. Rest in Peace Dusty Hill. 🙏
I WAS AT THAT SHOW!!!!
I never realized what this song was about, I just knew that it was a great tune to blast while cruising the strip.
Ha ha! No problem there!
AKA Vegas? 😊
Me too! It was just that mumbling ZZ-Top song that needed no words. The way Billy used his voice and the way they all voiced their instruments said everything about who they were. I never looked up the lyrics because I loved the song not knowing them.
I actually live in La Grange, TX. ZZ Top played the Fayette County Fair a few years ago, first time they'd ever played La Grange in La Grange. There were more people there at the concert than the entire population of the county. lol My all time favorite band, seen them live more than any other band.
Just bought tickets myself for this August.
La Grange is high on my list of favorite Texas cities. Great town square (I love the kitchenware shop!), beautiful area of Texas, with a lot to do there and in surrounding area. ✌🏻
How many times?
Are they actually liked in La Grange? It seems to me they led to the demise of their greatest cultural attraction. When you got a good thing going but it's illegal, the last thing you need is someone shouting it to the world and calling attention to it. Maybe enough time has passed, a generation or two has come and gone.
If I lived in La Grange, I'd build a large statue of Marvin Zindler, The Man Who Killed La Grange...and make it the most-used urinal in Texas.
"La Grange" embodies the essence of ZZ Top, IMHO.
My older brother played this for me for the first time. My mind was instantly blown away. I was 10. I instantly grew up by 2 years!👍👍
It only hit #41??? No way, it received airplay on the radio like a top ten. That is so hard to believe.
That’s because listeners could call in and request songs to be played.. in our area in Georgia and North Florida, some songs got requested, AND PLAYED back to back. I really miss that mindset of connection with the listeners.
@@missflowerpower8724 Yes, that makes sense. And I agree, it was fun to interact with the DJs back then. One saved my relationship by playing a special dedication song.
Marvin Zinder is still known for his famous Friday restaurant report and the phrase “slime in the ice machine!” In my family he’s also known for retrieving my husband’s uncle from another state back to Texas when he worked for the Harris county sheriff’s department, lol. Love hearing about our “local” band, we saw them on the Eliminator tour here in Houston. What an awesome show! Thanks Professor, for a great visit to Texas!
One of the greatest riffs ever.
Amen!
(excluding anything by Led Zeppelin of course!)
Have Mercy!😅
Sounds very much like "Shake Your Hips" by Slim Harpo, covered by The Stones as "Hip Shake" on Exile on Main Street. Great riff, and much better than ZZ's MTV-era '80s stuff.
facts
Ah ZZ Top...one of those bands that never lets me down and always lifts my spirits. Tres Hombres is my favorite ZZ album.
This has got to be one of my favorite songs from ZZ Top’s. I never realized how much of their music I really loved until I was older. Thanks for teaching us more about them.
Thanks for listening!
@@ProfessorofRock of course! This is my favorite channel. I watch your videos every day during my lunch. It’s a nice break from the teenagers I teach. 😊
Here's a great song of their's you may have never heard. It's off of their 1st album(appropriately titled "ZZ Top's First Album"). It has a reggae/blues feel. Despite being a 53 year old record, it has one of the best sounding recordings of a drum set's floor toms and mounted toms that I've heard. It recently showed up in my TH-cam feed, otherwise I may have never heard it:
th-cam.com/video/gf2kVTUY1-Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=38b3r79i6Y4V89aO
@@HighlanderNorth1 that’s awesome! Thanks for the suggestion.
@@ProfessorofRockThanks for doing this video. A great way to pay tribute to Dusty Hill too
I can remember when I was about 9 or 10 my grandmother got me the single blue jean blues and Tush I was happily hooked ever since.
This little place was beloved by many. It is true that this reporter drew the ire of many in the Lone Star State. Thank you for the love to the small towns of Central Texas. I've didn't know this song was recorded in one of my favorite cities Tyler Texas, I've driven past the studio all the time and its still active today. Thank you form Round Rock Texas.
I am missing out! Because I need to travel to Texas!
@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 All are welcome who wish to enjoy the beauty of the hill country and piney woods of the Lone Star State.
@@Denozo88 What city do you recommend?
@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Fredericksburg for the hill country and for the Piney Woods Canton First Market Days or Bastrop. For a beach vacation Galveston and Corpus Cristi are great choices.
You’re knocking them out of the park here lately Professor, excellent episodes.
"Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers" is an awesome song from Tres Hombres that is so good that Van Halen covered it in their bar playing days.
For sure!
They covered “Tush”, too. I’ve heard a tape of it.
one of the highlights of hank jr 80s show la grange pa ked arena went nuts
Awesome song..
YESSSSSS!!!!! What makes it so good is where Billy and Dusty trade lyrics
Brown Sugar is a bad MOFO tooo👍
I was 11 years when I first heard zztop in 1981 I have a fond memory of my bother driving a 72 nova I was sitting in the middle back seat and could see the speedometer with the needle past 120 mph with this song blasting and the sound of the tires rubbing the quarter panel the roads he in north Georgia are not straight it’s amazing how fast you can go with confidence of youth and empty roads both of which are well in the past the America I grew up in seems to be in the past also good days back then
That is a cool memory.
An absolutely awesome track! Off my second favourite Top album (nothing beats Deguello!) So solid. And I was already a firm John Lee Hooker fan when I first heard the Texas trio, so appreciated the homage.
I have a lot of memories of this song and of the Chicken Ranch. In 1970 four of us from UT decided one night to drive to LaGrange and perform our rite of passage, but ended up not going due to general lack of funds! And I'll never forget seeing Gov. Briscoe at his media event when he announced the raid and closure. He reminded me of a kid who was just told his favorite ride at Disney Land was being torn down!
Never knew what that song was about until today - love the backstories Prof!
Awesome! Thanks for watching Christine!
Same
I've loved this classic since I first heard it in high school in 1980. Thanks for finally telling its story.
ZZ Top was the greatest boogie rock trio from Texas and
they still are today with all of their awesome songs especially
with LaGrange one favorites from the early days of ZZ Top.
🇺🇲🎸🥁🎸🇺🇲🎵🎶🎼🎼🎶🎵
Growing up, I always heard about the Chicken Ranch. This brings back my days in the 70s.
You just answered all the questions I've had about this song for almost 4 decades ..TY
This album (and all of ZZ's albums released after) was huge in the late 70's when I was in high school . In fact, I didn't realize until many years later that so many of what we listened to on FM radio during the late 70's where I live came out in the late 60's and early 70's.
Everywhere you went great, iconic rock such as this blasted from cars.
Very fortunate to have grown up in that era.
True story...as a kid in west Texas, a right of passage as a teenager was a trip to Acuña...the Mexican border town across from Del Rio, Texas....and visiting “boys town”....on one of my trips I was in the backseat of an old Chrysler handing out the beer, circa 1979. In 1982 I heard the song Mexican Blackbird for the first time and I couldn’t believe my ears and had to play it multiple times in disbelief...... I lived the song not knowing about the song.... ZZ Top was already my favorite band, but that sealed the deal!!!
Was wondering about the inspiration for that song, Fandango is one of my All time favorite albums, Mexican black bird and heard it on the X.
ZZ top one of my favorite groups. La Grange is a great song.
One of the best! Thanks Wayne!
The album, or shall I say the cassette of Tres Hombres has a special place in my memories.
The shop I was working at in 1989 used to take camping trips at least one weekend every month. We would leave Friday night after work and head out somewhere here in the Mojave Desert and hang out until Sunday morning. We had one spot in the hills that gave us a nice view of our little community below. It was a lot of fun.
One Friday evening we ventured out there and our manager decided to head into town for his 20 year reunion of Mojave High’s class of 1969. Apparently he had too much to drink that night because he never came back!
So there we were. In the Mojave Desert with no ride back into town. But we had a lot of beer, some green leafy stuff, a cassette player and a copy of Tres Hombres. We listened to that tape over and over and over until the batteries died.
This was long before cell phones so there was no way to call anyone. But, Ron eventually sobered up at some point and returned the following night to rescue us.
It just occurred to me that of the 5 of us that used to make that regular journey, I am the only one still living 😢. Crazy how time flies
Thanks for sharing.
Ahhhhh, the bittersweetness. Thanks for sharing. The time before cellphones has to be known.
Sad ending!
The song that changed my life aged 11. Blew my mind. Couldnt believe someone could make a guitar "talk" like that.
The new bass player for ZZ Top came into my local skateboard shop yesterday! Really nice guy
In my old blues band, this was our closing song. Brought the house down every time...
Good old days.
Awesome!
I was lucky enough to see ZZ Top live in 1977
Where at?
@@ProfessorofRock I was living in Salt Lake City at the time, I was 17 years old, the place was called the Salt Palace
The tour was called The World Wide Texas Tour, they had a few farm animals on stage, and I remember they sounded louder than Ted Nugent
Yeah I saw them in 1973.. the Tres Hombres tour… the very first rock concert I ever went to. They opened for the Doobie Bros. Special guest if I remember was Savoy Brown (?). Although ZZ Top had previous albums, this was the first track that got any air play, and honestly they blew the other bands away. Was anyone else there? Swing Auditorium at the Orange Show fairgrounds in San Bernardino, California….?
1976 in Houston, by God, Texas was my first ZZ show.
I was in the Army, at Ft Monmouth NJ in 1973, when LaGrange was burning up the airwaves. Having heard the song, and mesmerized with the solid blues beat, and Billy's guitar solo, when ZZ Top showed up on the bill for the Asbury Park Casino, NOT a gambling establishment, but a concert venue, I bought tickets, but wouldn't you know, I caught duty on the night of the concert, and couldn't trade out my duty, nor even sell my tickets. Unfortunately, that was as close as I ever got to seeing ZZ top in concert.
Coolest song of the 70's? I would give that to Golden Earring's "Radar Love", a song that holds a special place in my heart..
You wouldn’t recognize Ft. Monmouth now. It was closed a few years back and became overgrown and was falling apart. Netflix has just bought all the property and is turning it into a movie studio. I’m not looking forward to the increased traffic but it’s better than watching it crumble away.
@@margaretbonanno654 Sad, I have very fond memories of Ft. Monmouth.
ZZTop is one of a kind. I can still remember when I first heard them. 1987, I was hooked. I had to find everything I could get my hands on.
I would go through the hell that my parents gave me all over again. Rock gave me a place I belonged. ZZTop was right there guiding me to finally being happy.
They put on one of the best live shows I have seen.
Where'd you see them?
Indeed. Saw both the Eliminator and Afterburner concerts at the Erwin Center in Austin. Unbelievable how much music can come from just 3 guys!
Sturgis and Usana@@ProfessorofRock
Slime in the ice machine! Listen to his news reports for years in Humble, Tx. Got to see ZZ Top a few times.
Encyclopedia Brown. Boy detective. Some of my favorite books from my childhood. I have them on my bookshelf for my children and grandchildren.
Spot on! From SBS- scholastic book service
It’s been said if he ever did a handstand, one could hear the encyclopedias falling off of the shelves in his brain.
I read them with my mom. His name was Leroy.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 his dad was a cop. Leroy Brown boy detective.
Loved those books as a young lad. Our elementary school had all of them except one. And we always checked every week to see if the library had ordered it. Alas, it never appeared.
Every song and every artist u do is a big history lesson i really dig this channel
Thanks!
Exquisite simplicity.
Indeed!
I have no idea how many times I have seen ZZ Top live. I'll see them again in Huntsville, Alabama with Lynyrd Skynyrd tomorrow.
Absolutely love this song and band!! Saw them in ‘76 general admission! My hearing has not been the same since!! 🤘🔥
Ha ha! Thanks Brent!
Where at?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 OKC Fairgrounds Arena
What? 😉
Those guitar solos, if I am actively listening to them or trying to play them myself on guitar, bring tears to my eyes and goose bumps on my skin.
Le Grange is my pick me up song. No matter my mood this song always turns it around.
ZZTop was one of those bands I swear had innuendo in every one of their songs lol
Pearl Necklace, baby! LMAO
@@traci4187 Oh yeah
Tube Snake Boogie!
Tush..I mean, come-on 😂😅
Haha, no kidding!
This is one of my favorites from ZZ Top.
I didn't know the history. I didn't even know the place existed.
Thanks for the history lesson.
That album was one of my first dozen albums. Still have it and it is great shape. Also have some great concert photos of ZZ Top - had to sneak a huge SLR and 80-400 lens into show (I have my ways).
Can you post them in a video please?
We where allowed to carry a SLR into that Led Zeppelin concert, back in 1980. 35-205 lens, if I recall it right. Ektachrome 400, later pushed to 1600ASA. In later years, you where not allowed a compact camera, nowadays, folks are filming with their cellphones. Crazy.
That song the best of all time. The solo part, pure awesome! Nuff said!
Omg this is one of my favorites and I had no idea what it was about. 😆
😂🤣😂 I was 21. Had just moved to DFW; I thought ZZ Top were singing about La Grange GA!!!😎🤦😆
. . . luv them bearded boys!!!
This song is pure badass rock n roll I love it
Truly!
A timeless classic. 'nuff said.....................
👍
Time keeps on ticking... Going through a box of old ticket stubs not long ago. My first rock concert:
May 19, 1973 East Tennessee State University (lol yeah, I'm old, but still above the dirt...)
Rory Gallagher - ZZ Top
4 dollars
It was about two months before Tres Hombres came out. (Dusty Hill's 24th birthday, I came to find out on his passing) It was Festival Seating and I managed to get about 15 feet from mic center. Rory Gallagher was pure fire right out of the gate, and his band was phenomenal. (particularly Lou Martin on his electric piano) Rory was amazing to see play and I think that he had as much fun as anyone. Then, Billy Gibbons and the boys came out. Back when they were the most badass blues rock band that ever was. Straw hats, jeans, no beards (but Frank. lol), and BG in a white tshirt w/ pack of Marlboros rolled up in the sleeve(lol). Needless to say, Rory and Billy made a big impression on a 16 yr old. Blues rock, slide guitar nut ever since.
RIP Rory, Rod, Lou, & Dusty. Thank You!
Keep Rockin' Billy, Frank, & Gerry
Encyclopedia Brown...such memories. Thanks as always, Prof.
Early ZZ is classic bluesy rock of the 1970s, their second entry Rio Grande Mud is a personal favourite of mine of the ZZ catalogue with the unforgettable stage favourite tune "Just Got Paid"
Amen!
When I think of ZZ Top, just got paid is the song that pops into my head.
@@ProfessorofRock with a driving backbone and another iconic guitar riff like La Grange, Just Got Paid is an instant classic
I saw ZZ Top live in Lincoln, Nebraska in the early 80’s. When they started playing Cheap Sunglasses people started hurling pairs of kids sunglasses at the stage. A pair bounced off the top of Dusty Hill’s cowboy hat. He looked up, looked around then kept playing. Never missed a beat. Classic!
@@fredgroenke2586 Love Cheap Sunglasses! Tubular Story
I first learned of ZZ Top as a kid, when Tush broke out on the radio. I couldn’t get enough of that song, staring down at the 45 as it spun on my parents’ record player(I want to say I remember the label swirling in blue, yellow and white). I didn’t really become aware of La Grange until much later. Musta been too young when it came out. I was also pretty hyper focused on Elton John. Thanks so much for enriching our lives with all the fascinating stories you tell, professor.
The movie "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds is about the Chicken Ranch
That's actually the part I couldn't say!
A really fun movie. Charles Durning as the Governor, and the song and dance he does inside the Capitol is one of my favorite parts.
@@ProfessorofRockThere were posters with “cathouse” instead, for more conservative areas.
I've seen the stage play many times.
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention this.
The drum fills are beastly. I’ve seen some people on TH-cam who can play them reasonably well, but Frank Beard’s feel is inimitable.
One of the most criminally underrated rock drummers in history, largely because Billy Gibbons was using drum machines in the 80's to record their albums as their sound change. But his drumming on those 70's albums is soooo good.
In the 80's I worked with Bill Narum, the art director for ZZ TOP. The gatefold picture in Tres Hombres- suitable for separating stems and seeds, is from a meal at Leo's Mexican Restaurant in Houston. Aside from the great food, Leo could tell tales of his days riding with Pancho Villa. Narum is the man who thought putting a longhorn steer and ranch set on stage would differentiate ZZT from all the other American rockers touring Europe. I was hanging with Narum and Billy one afternoon when they were designing ZZ branded chrome engine parts, and they suddenly needed to drive from Austin to Houston and back for tacos and sundries. If I did not have a list of things needing doing, I could have been in the back seat, breaking the speed limit and passing through La Grange twice in one day with the man.
Great stuff!
The world tour in Houston was crazy with the menagerie on stage!
This is an essential song for any driving soundtrack.
I like "El Diablo" as a better driving song.
I can't hear this song without thinking of the Robot Chicken episode where Billy Gibson getting out of bed and stubbing his toe and saying ah ow ow ow. Great episode professor many things i didn't know in this one!
I never watched Robot Chicken.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 it's a little twisted humor but sometimes it's funny
that is one of my fav ZZ Top songs LOVE IT
About a cat house? No way. ZZ Top never had dirty songs. Wait...Tube Steak Boogie, I Got the Six, Velcro Fly, Woke Up with Wood, Fuzzbox Voodoo, Pearl Necklace. lol.
Lmao
Mexican Blackbird, Snappy Khaki.....
Tush
@@jimgsewell Wow, how could I have forgotten that one 😁
'I Got The Six' ....
#tellyewwut
🤌🥔👁️🍅🤌
Grew up in Allentown, PA, Billy Joel's song was pretty cool! ZZ TOP is my husband's favorite band, and "LA Grange" is the ringtone when he calls me! We've seen them four times, and will be seeing them this August at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA!
Always a road trip favorite, and for some reason, it encourages just a minor bit of law skirting concerning the speed limit.
I first saw ZZ Top in 1980 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. It was on the Deguello tour. I was hooked for life. Just saw them last week at the Stranahan theater in Toledo. For some reason, they haven't played Cheap Sunglasses for many years. But anyway, they still rock!🎸🎸🎶🎼🎵
A lot of the fine ladies were UT students trying to make an extra dime. But I might be mistaken. haw haw haw haw
ZZ Top is one of those bands that you love or you're wrong. Ultimate party music. If you're having a party and you want to get everyone singing and playing air guitar, play this song. I always expected it was about a real place, just never knew the story about it.
Reminds me of the stories my mom would tell of a cat house that was across the street from my childhood home. Then I recall the cat house that was up on a hill right on the main drag of town. It's long gone but I remember talking to the women there. They always told me when I hit 18 to come see them. When I reached 18, the house was long gone and now a car lot.
Thanks for the memories Adam. That's one big reason I love your channel. Keep up the great work.
Tip of the hat to ZZ Top for this bluesy rock tune!
ZZTop was so cool! Loved their music and saw them in the 80s in Atlanta.
I remember the story well. Marvin Zindler, eye...witness news.
_sigh_ ...every single time...
@@a2ndopynyn ...And Dave Ward *almost* rolling his eyes as he said "Thank You, Marvin".
Houston legends
I never knew the lyrics of the song and had no idea what it was about. The guitar riff, the beat, and the sound of his voice were all I paid attention to.
My favorite group and phenomenal album since 1973.
ZZ Top is just one of those bands I never try to copy. They are just to perfect. I’ll dabble in their sound but I could just not do it justice.
My favorite ZZ top song
"La Grange" is one of the greatest driving songs ever recorded.
How many tickets have you received from cops? Ha ha!
@@ProfessorofRock Heh heh. . . three. . . and an additional three warnings.
It's definitely ridin down the open highway music!😅
I agree!
I can’t drive 55 is a bit better. Highway star and radar love being even better. But, yeah it is in the top 20ish
My wife and I are from La Grange. I grew up working in the family music/TV store on the square directly across from Sherrif Jim's office from 1972-1979!
Hey Adam my fellow Idahoan - born Cottonwood here 😊(although I could be your dad - agewise) took a bit of time but now a subscriber - love your channel
Another idahoan ? I grew up in kamiah now in mtn.home.
@@leroywolf5819 Kamiah is my hometown -- Indeed I'm a Kub 😉 - currently in Clarkston, WA
@@dougkidder9069 I hung around with the glovers, Doug brown ( his dad was the dentist),basically early 70s
@@leroywolf5819 You are older than me - must be around my cousin Ronnie Graham's age or so .. was Dana Brown Doug's younger brother?
@@dougkidder9069 Dana brown was Doug's older brother, I lived across the street from Bruce and David Graham
That took some work. Thank you for sharing this bit of American music history and humanities.
I met Mr. Zindler at a social function in Houston, he was a really nice guy.
Interesting.
Wow.
"be very, very careful, when people seem so nice": pls listen to the song "Hope Road" from Anne Clark. I do in fact doubt the fact that Mr. Zindler is truly a nice person. He may seem nice...but:
I saw ZZ top at the Monsters of Rock, Cotton Bowl in the early 1990s. One of my favorite shows ever. La Grange sent the crowd wild. A-haw, haw, haw, haw
Marvin Zindler-the reporter who close the ranch down-ended up becoming a Texas legend himself. He was one of those consumer reporters who people could write to for help. You DID NOT want Marvin Zindler showing up at your business
His restaurant reviews were the best. I remember waiting up late once a week to watch with my family. They got a little silly at the end with the “slime in the ice machine” jingle, but it was iconic.
Glad I got to see them, live, at Rama in Ontario a few years ago. Wish the show had been longer, though!! Thanks, Adam!
Here's a fun fact: Even though "La Grange" peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song did make an appearance on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 countdown for the week ending 06/29/74, reportedly at position #33. For that week's countdown, the AT40 staff recorded that show earlier than normal (probably because Casey was going on a lengthy assignment and didn't want to have two weeks of substitutes); and as such, they wouldn't have the actual chart at that time. For that week only, they based their countdown on their best guesstimate of each song's chart position. "La Grange" was actually at its peak position on #41 that week.
I remember! Thanks for sharing!
Cool! Thanks.
One of the best jam songs of all time!
Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher", ZZ Top's "The Grange", John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillin", Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips", all seem to have the same chord structure/progression.
Exactly right.
I used to live in the Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia suburb of The Grange. So cool to have this song‼️😁😜🇦🇺
Man, I saw them on this tour! What a band. Of course the "Tejas" tour was cooler, rattle snakes,long horned steers,buzzards on a stage shaped like Texas! Great live band.
Rock on!
They scream Texas! Lol
Ha, great memories of LaGrange! The town and the song!
Growing up in Spring Branch, used to see some of em running around the neighborhood!
There's an old Rolling Stones song called Shake Your Hips that sounds very similar to LaGrange. It was released a year before LaGrange came out. The similarities are striking!
You know your music!
@@ProfessorofRock I have quite a bit of music knowledge, but you blow me away with the amount of facts that you share on your show! The research you do and the terminology you use to educate us never ceases to amaze me! You have a great way with words and storytelling! You bring great honor to Kasey Kasem and your dad!
Awesome story, thanks. I've always been a big fan of ZZ Top, the song and Texas back roads. 🙂
Billy Gibbons...one of the top 10 greatest but "unknown" guitarist....EVER! What an incredible talent!
For sure!
So glad he’s still with us.
One of those bands whose every song is awesome.
❤🎉
ZZ!
Love early ZZ Top. La Grange is a great tune! The boogie masters from Texas!
In 1983, a buddy and me went as ZZ Top for a Halloween party. Used 20 bags a cotton batting for the beards and guitars. Good times.
Thanks Professor!
Great Shirt!
Hello Roger!
What a fun Halloween costume..
Amazing story and really great song. I never knew anything about this song and its background until now. Nicely done.🥰❤️
Thanks for watching.
Great song and Great band ! Billy is ONE of the GREATEST guitar players and overall artist in music.The first 5 or 6 LP's are must haves. I really liked the first few but Fandango really sealed the deal. Hearing live ZZ Top was a revelation for my ears.As to LaGrange, Funny how old "criminals" were better citizens than most currently known personalities.
Right. Those criminals are nothing compared to the modern world.
I was a freshman in high school and my brother was a senior. I remember me hearing this song on the radio for the very first time, during a morning ride to school. My brother slid to a stop in front of the school, but the song wasn't finished. He cranked up the volume as we both sat in the car and waited until it was over to go into school. (My brother played guitar and me drums, we could not walk away from this song.) We both ended up late for home room and were sent to the office to get a note from the nun who was the principal before we could return to class. She asked why we were late, I told the truth. I explained that we just heard a new song for the first time and had to listen to it all the way through. My brother broke up laughing, "The truth? What a novel idea?!" Over fifty years have passed, and yet I can still remember every detail.